Sudan: Current Status


Katie Duckler
May 7, 2009
World History period 2


            Sudan is the largest country in Africa and also in the Arab world.  It was inhabited at least 60,000 years ago and has been through much adversity, but has prospered also.  The current president is Omar Hasan Ahmad Al-Bashir, who came in power in 1989 when he overthrew the government at the time.  Al-Bashir led officers in a military coup to take over the Prime Minister, Sadiq Al- Mahdi.  Sudan has a military government, and is ranked as the second most politically unstable country in the world for its military dictatorship and Darfur crisis.  On March 4th of this year, Omar al-Bashir was accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.  He claimed the lives of about 300,000 people and relocated 2.75 million people who are now in refugee camps (Economist.com.)  The Darfur genocide has killed hundreds of thousands of people, and it will keep continuing unless the international community steps in. In 2003, two different rebel groups instigated a revolt against the government, who responded by killing innocent civilians.  It is an ongoing problem that is extremely terrible and unfortunate.

            Despite the terrible political problems, Sudan has managed to achieve economic growth.  Trade is extremely important to Sudan's economy.  The current main export is oil, which is increasing greatly.  From 1999 to 2000, Sudan reached a trade surplus, and ever since its economy is booming.  Because the economy is at a very secure spot, tourists are welcome and there are an ongoing amount of places people can visit.  Most of the interesting places reside in the capital city, Khartoum.  The National Museum of Sudan, Palace Museum, Botanical gardens, and the massive mosques can be visited there.  Those places would be extremely interesting to visit, but due to the genocide, they might be dangerous.

            Foreign relations are extremely important in Sudan.  Sudan is a part of the UN, because the UN went to Sudan for humanitarian assistance and protection of human rights.  In 1967, Sudan and the Israelis were not allies because the Arab-Israeli war began. Though later, Sudan became supportive of the Camp David Accords.  A conflict arose between Sudan and Libya when Libya started cross-border raids into Sudan.  They tried to seek unity, but that point was never reached successfully.  Sudan's government was accused of attempting to assassinate the President of Ethiopia, Ato Girma Wolde-Giorgis, in 1995, so most of its neighboring countries broke the relations between them.  This is still somewhat the same even though Sudan has been trying to reunite with them.  Now the strongest supporters are Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, and the important oil producing states like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Arabia gave military aid and loans.  The relationship between Sudan and the U.S. is not at its peak because of the Darfur conflict.  Although they have had many policy differences, the U.S. still provides humanitarian aid to Sudan. 

            The predominant religion in Sudan is Islam.  70% of the country is Muslim, 25% is indigenous, and 5% is Christian.  The government is based on Islamic values and is state-sponsored.  Sudan is a very conflicted country that currently is going through much misfortune.  Although it prospers with trade, tourism, and gets help from its allies, Sudan is still suffering because of this Genocide. 


Annotated Bibliography


1A1: Sudan Page @Sudan.Net. 21 May 2009 http://sudan.net/government/cabinet.html

I used this site to tell me who the president of Sudan is, and what kind of government it is. 



Genocide in Darfur | Stop the Genocide in Sudan | Save Darfur. 21 May 2009 
http://www.genocideindarfur.net>.

This site gave me information on the Darfur Genocide and what it is.  I used this information when talking about the politics of Sudan to show how it is a very weak government.



"Sudan: Arrest the president | The Economist." Economist.com. 21 May 2009
<http://www.Economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13217676.>.

This site gave me information on the President Omar and the problems he has caused.



"Tourist Destinations in Sudan,Sudan Tourist Destinations,Tourist Destinations of Sudan." World Travel. 21
May 2009 <http://www.travel.mapsofworld.com/sudan/tourist-destinations-in-sudan/.>.

This explained the many popular tourist destinations in Sudan and about tourism.